Nature Preserve Archives - The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County

Dangermond Preserve, Lompoc

In 2023, the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County and The Nature Conservancy completed a conservation easement that permanently protects 24,341 acres of the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve. The easement is the result of a thoughtful, collaborative partnership between the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, The Nature Conservancy, and the Department of Defense—organizations…

Rincon Bluffs Preserve

Arroyo Hondo Fish Passage Restoration

North Campus Open Space

To the west, eucalyptus woodlands welcome migrating monarch butterflies at both the Land Trust’s Coronado Butterfly Preserve and the Goleta Butterfly Preserve at Ellwood Mesa, while intact coastal dunes to the south provide nesting grounds for the threatened snowy plover. Riparian habitat and willow woodlands spring up to the north and east. The UCSB North…

Sedgwick Reserve

Set in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley, the Sedgwick Reserve is a hub used extensively for research, arts, and education programs by local and global institutions. The Sedgwick Reserve contains much of the watershed of Figueroa Creek, from rolling oak savannah, to native grassland, to the gray pine forest extending into the Los…

Ennisbrook Open Space

Tucked into the Montecito neighborhood of Ennisbrook, this open space also known as the San Ysidro Oak Woodland, is an easy, shady trail with a charming stone bridge over San Ysidro Creek and a Monarch butterfly eucalyptus grove. When the Ennisbrook subdivision was proposed in Montecito, the community and the County knew mitigation would be…

Modoc Preserve

The Modoc Preserve along Modoc Road is owned by the La Cumbre Mutual Water Company, which serves Hope Ranch and nearby neighborhoods. After reviewing various options for this land and seeking the approval of its shareholders, the Water Company in 1999 granted a conservation easement to the Land Trust to keep this land open and…

Carpinteria Salt Marsh Preserve

Reflective water at Carpinteria Salt Marsh

The Carpinteria Salt Marsh is one of the largest and most ecologically important coastal estuaries in California—and it is among the last. In 2008 the Land Trust completed a four-year restoration project to provide better wildlife habitat, opportunities for scientific research, and ways for the people to visit and learn about the coastal environment. A…

Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve

History of the Bluffs For over 20 years, the citizens in Carpinteria fought against development of the Bluffs. Developers with proposals for hotels, housing tracts, business parks and oil refineries came and went without success. Weary of fighting against projects, local conservationists formed the Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs in 1996 to raise money and…

Burton Ranch Chaparral Preserve

This Land Trust preserve is sandwiched within the state-managed Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve to the north, south, and to the east. The preserve has popular walking trails connecting it to the Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve. Burton Mesa Chaparral is a unique form of maritime chaparral only found in the sandy soils north of Lompoc where…

Coronado Butterfly Preserve

The Coronado Butterfly Preserve is home to native coastal sage scrub habitat, eucalyptus groves and numerous birds and wildlife that thrive in this urban community treasure. The 9.3-acre preserve includes Devereux Creek, woodlands and meadows as well as trails, an outdoor gathering area and classroom. The Preserve is protected open space and acts as a…